Get ready for the demise of Soho's 74 Grand Street, the granddaddy of our fair city's leaning towers and one that's been on its last legs since 2004. That was when some big rains and a rather un-neighborly neighbor undermined its foundation. The cast-iron beauty at Wooster and Grand trembled and tilted, driving its inhabitants into the streets. For nearly five years the building has been empty, covered in black netting and propped up on the west by some major steel girders. The erector set may not be as intricate as the one downtown, but it has served its purpose by keeping the bricks and iron from tumbling. Now, suddenly, the safety netting has come down. An execution is in the air.
According to a flier advertising a public hearing on the matter (seen in the gallery), the plan is to demolish the building and cart off the cast iron facade into safe storage, where it will await "future reinstallation." What's to come remains unknown, but Community Board 2 will be tracking the proposal. Any progress here will be welcome. This ramshackle intersection, still looking like the grittier Soho of yore, has a new batch of condos slated to go up on the parking lot across the street. However, that plan seems to be in a holding pattern, so change may not come anytime soon. And there's still nothing in the works for the source of these Grand Street miseries, the derelict hole next door to 74 Grand Street. On certain corners progress moves at its own slow pace.
· 74 Grand Street coverage [Curbed]
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